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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711718">I Do Know Two Things</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/forest_roses/pseuds/forest_roses'>forest_roses</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>desert winds [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Welcome to Night Vale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Demiromantic Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), I listened to episode 150 earlier and it made me soft, Love, M/M, bonus points if you find them all, i quoted several episodes, just a scientist and an ancient eldritch being, spending their anniversary in an arby's parking lot, the fact that they count the arby's parking lot as their first anniversary is the sweetest thing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:08:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>591</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/forest_roses/pseuds/forest_roses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The hot desert wind blows against the thin fabric of your shirt, and you look down at the man resting his head on your shoulder and think about telling him how much you love him.<br/>You will love him with all of you until time or angels or the universe itself calls an end, and you will love him beyond that, and leave echoes of your love in stardust and floating on asphalt streets, and he will do the same for you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos/Cecil Palmer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>desert winds [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>500 Words Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Do Know Two Things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(Before I start, I just want to make it clear that being demiromantic or arospec in general is not something that needs to be "fixed" by falling in love. As an aromantic person myself, I want to be sure that this does not come across that way.)</p><p>I adore the idea of Carlos as demiromantic. He is my favorite character (Cecil too, I honestly can't choose between them) and it makes me happy to think of him as similar to me.</p><p>I wrote this in about an hour and barely edited, so I apologize for any typos or mistakes.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The hot desert wind blows against the thin fabric of your shirt, and you look down at the man resting his head on your shoulder and think about telling him how much you love him. You think about the way he looks in the early morning, and the way he smiles at you after a long day, and you think of a hundred other things said by lovers across the ages, and you want to tell him a hundred more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You still remember the first time you said those three words, and the way his eyes lit up in bright shades of amethyst and deep black, and his hands held yours close, and how you were both so beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. You remember feeling that his love didn’t complete you the way society said it would </span>
  <em>
    <span>(a scientist is always self-reliant)</span>
  </em>
  <span> but that it felt like two wholes joining, a conscious and beautiful and vast connection, and you wondered why society didn’t talk about that, instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You’ve never fallen in love easily, your heart doesn’t leap out of your chest at first sight the way the movies say it should. Mostly, you didn’t think of love at all before you found him. It was always a possibility, but it hovered somewhere on the horizon of your mind, and was often hidden by things of greater interest to you. Scientifically speaking, love in all forms is intriguing; you’ve spent many an hour researching it, fascinated by the chemistry and the processes. In day to day life, however, the actual pursuit of love or even just the concept pertaining to yourself was not something that felt worth your time.                                                                            </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That has changed now, of course, as have so many others things since you arrived in Night Vale. You fell in love with the town in only a few weeks; your constant concern and fearful awe was overshadowed quickly by the sheer amounts of complexity and scientific opportunities. And after a while, after one long year spent hunched over lab tables and hauling research equipment into the desert, after one long year of hearing </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> voice, every day, a velvet rich reprieve from the constant questions running through your brain, you fell in love with Cecil, too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You had to love Night Vale before you could love him. You had to understand that you couldn’t understand, and you found love in the impossibilities, looking up at that night sky with him so long ago; the Arby's sign glowed red against a backdrop dotted with moving lights and inky black, mostly void, partially stars. You feel it now, too: the sense of wonder, and the conscious joining, and the way he sits up a little straighter, and kisses you, soft and quiet. It isn’t the same as your first kiss, years of history have passed between then and now, but you still find that each time, it’s like discovering him anew.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He whispers to you now, in the calm of the parking lot in the dead of night, the glowing markings on his skin twisting in and out of spiraled shapes, and you know he’s using his sweetest voice now, the one when it’s just the two of you, and you love him for it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>You will love him with all of you until time or angels or the universe itself calls an end, and you will love him beyond that, and leave echoes of your love in stardust and floating on asphalt streets, and he will do the same for you.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed! If you did, I would much appreciate comments or kudos!<br/>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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